School should have done better?

[Opheliablox]

Child in Y11. Latest ofsted grades school as requires improvement after 5 successive outstandings. Criticised leadership for having an inflated sense of how good the school is. Behaviour of a core group (drug related) and schools inability to deal with it repeatedly cited. My child has done well there with good gcse’s predicted however result in mock computer science was far lower than expected, but still highest in class. At parents eve the computer teacher explained that she’d been absent for a term for health reasons and a newly qualified teacher had replaced her however he was on a learning a curve and failed to understand that he needed to break concepts down. The class spent a term scratching their heads though annoyingly my kid never mentioned this. There was no monitoring of this teacher for the whole term.

Would it be normal not to monitor a new teacher particularly with a GCSE class? The school must have identified the problems for the usual teacher (who is excellent) to have articulated it. Too late to rectify now and hopefully ground has been made up but would I be unreasonable to raise my concern with the school as feedback?

What a shame for your DC and the rest of the class.

The school was lucky to get any kind of computer science teacher. They are in very very short supply.

It would (carefully) ask the school what plans they have to address the problem.

Thanks redyawn, I didn’t realise about the short supply. I will raise it but in a low key way. My kid was set on moving to 6th form college for a-levels and never wanted to stay on at school and the 6th form applications this year are minimal given the ofsted report though the 6th form is rated good. I have my own views on the head and assistant but feel for some of the excellent teachers that my son had been lucky to have. Thank you

Is the NQT still at the school? That seems a little unprofessional to have mentioned that!

I agree, it is not great - the NQT should have been observed at least twice in a 'big' term - with catch ups with their mentor too. Of course, this may not have happened, which is generally down to poor leadership.

No he’s not. The teacher did say he’s now got another job. I agree it’s a little unprofessional but the school seem desperate in the light of the ofsted report. The report said outcomes for boys were worse than girls. There’s a whole new suite of activity underway including publishing names of teaching staff and minutes of meetings on the website which has never happened before.

Lots of changes generally happen very quickly after a SM report. They need to prove they are changing in light of Ofsted's comments.
Presume they'll be getting support from the local authority etc - could be the best time to be there, lots should happen quickly! :)

Would it be normal not to monitor a new teacher particularly with a GCSE class?

well they should be observed twice a term but not necessarily with a specific class so it could easily not have been with your son's. However they clearly knew about the problem as they told you about it and if a problem arises they are within their rights to intervene more with a newly qualified teacher. An NQT has to pass their induction year and if there are concerns schools can and do fail them or make them repeat terms (thus keeping them as a NQT for more than a year with the ability to monitor them more closely)

I think you should raise your concern and if I am honest it sounds like the teacher wants you too as well, otherwise why would she tell you this? Perhaps she feels unsupported by leadership.

After an experience I had recently I would always send a copy to the chair of governors as well.

It’s RI rather than SM (a head I know said that their exam results saved them from SM) but yes there is a lot of activity. The 6th form college my kid is hoping to go to was named Best 6th form college by TES in 2017, it is a fantastic opportunity.

the report said outcomes for boys were worse than girls thats true for most schools even outstanding ones. It's a national picture.

gareth that is very wise advice I think and I can see why the usual teacher would want it raised, if ultimate grades will go anyway to reflecting her performance. I understand there is ill feeling towards the leadership from some staff though that is anecdotal. The leadership handled a recent behavioural incident very badly, pre ofsted publication and whilst I’m usual an ardent supporter of the school and their decisions, the ofsted comments crysyallised my concerns. Thanks for your advice